What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

UMASS 2023-2024 The Flagship Rebounds??

Good bounce back from disappointed loss to Vermont. Sweeping the Friars was certainly unexpected. I guess Hrabal just had a bad game against Vermont but bounced back with string performances this weekend. Ufko is coming into his own with a strong showing this weekend. Harvard next. Can't remember the last time UMASS played them. GO UMASS!
 
kahunak said:
Good bounce back from disappointed loss to Vermont. Sweeping the Friars was certainly unexpected. I guess Hrabal just had a bad game against Vermont but bounced back with string performances this weekend. Ufko is coming into his own with a strong showing this weekend. Harvard next. Can't remember the last time UMASS played them. GO UMASS!
Click to expand...

We played you guys in the NCAA quarters back in 2004.
 
Jack Hanson said:
I don’t think so. You’re thinking of Maine there.

While I’m here, I just noticed that Suniev was originally committed to Harvard. I’m hoping he’ll be extra motivated, especially coming back from the game misconduct.

https://umassathletics.com/sports/mh...-university/11
Click to expand...

Yup, you're right. We lost to you guys in the NCAA quarters in 2019, 4-0. Should have checked the record book instead of relying on memory.
 
The Harvard game should be an interesting contest. Not sure where either school stands at this point in the season. My gut tells me that UMASS wins but my gut is a poor predictor of things. Hope the Minutemen comes out strong.
 
kahunak said:
The Harvard game should be an interesting contest. Not sure where either school stands at this point in the season. My gut tells me that UMASS wins but my gut is a poor predictor of things. Hope the Minutemen comes out strong.
Click to expand...

Your gut was spot on. It was men against boys. You guys seemed to be on a game-long power play with how you controlled the puck in our zone. Had it not been for your starting goalie, the game would have been a rout. We're just too young and inexperienced to give anyone from HE a worthwhile game. I shudder to think about Sunday against BC.
 
It was another grinder of a game. That’s the way Carvel likes them. For a fan with no rooting interest probably hard to watch. Those announcers were very good, which was a nice change from those 2 unprepared buffoons that covered the Providence game last week.

I’m not sure what is going on with Hrabel. Reading too many press clippings? I would only fault him for goals 2 and 5. That last one was so bad I’m sure he’s going to be sitting next week vs UVM.

I wish there was a little more firepower in the lineup. And the defense can be shaky at times. But otherwise a lot for a UMass fan to like.
 
So the success this year will be dependent if Hrabal is on? His inconsistency is astounding. One game he is a wall, the next a sieve? I hope he can figure this out. Maybe it's just being a freshman and getting used to school and hockey. Hope he can figure it out. Brady needs to be ready every game.
 
I wouldn’t call him a sieve. The 4th goal they let the Harvard player go end-to-end virtually untouched. It was practically a breakaway. The 2nd goal, a PP goal with the shooter alone in the slot. The first goal looked a little soft but Hrabel might’ve been screened.

I can’t remember the 3rd goal any longer. The 5th was bad, but he might have been sleeping because nearly all of the 3rd period was played in the Harvard end until that dumb penalty at the end that nearly cost them the win.

Hrabel should be fine. It’s the occasional sloppy play in their own end of that needs to be cleaned up, along with the dumb penalties. That said, I bet Brady gets the start on Friday.
 
Last edited:
There are no easy wins in HE this season. It would help the cause if they would cut back on the brain dead penalties. Two for embellishing?

It’s on to UAA. A sweep would greatly help with their post season aspirations.
 
The big OOC games are going to be against Cornell and then probably ASU. If they can win those games, then their prospects look good. They better play well against UAA.
 
Nice couple of wins this weekend against UAA, but I hate to see a team lose 11-2. Must have been a long trip that first day. A couple of OOC games coming up that are very important. If they can win both, they will have set themselves up as they head into the HE part of their schedule.
 
I agree that Anchorage didn’t deserve that 11-2 drubbing. Obviously the insane travel involved in getting to Amherst is not an excuse (and I saw nothing in any post game media coverage that used it as one) but it was the reason it went down that way. Anchorage has beaten Lowell, Wisconsin, and another Big 10 school already this year. They are a tough, proud team and that team showed up the next evening.

Worse part of the lopsided score was that it might have given the Minutemen the notion that they possessed BC/BU/Michigan type of offensive firepower. They don’t.

But that second game also revealed that the Minutemen are also a very tough team.

I’m looking forward to the second half. The post Christmas tournaments are going to be make or break for the prospects of a huge HEA presence in the NCAA’s. The Minutemen will be without Hrabel and Locmelis for their Christmas tournament but otherwise at full strength.
 
Last edited:
Watching the highlights of the Czech-Slovakia WJC game. Hrabel gave up a lot of soft goals. His glove looked particularly weak. Hope he gets it out of his system before he returns.

Hard to tell how Locmelis played since Sweden smoked Latvia.
 
It is way too early but UMass does have a realistic goal to make the NCAA's being one of 6 Hockey East schools in the top 11 PWR at #9. All it takes is to get into the top 16 PWR without any autobids pushing out those on the fence. Usually, a couple of teams get bumped and the PWR of 13 or 14 gets one in. That being said UMass hosts the regional in Springfield and should they qualify, they would automatically be placed there in whatever seed they fall. That certainly should be a motivator for them.
 
0-1-1 showing at the Adirondack tournament was very disappointing.

This was an opportunity for Cole Brady to make his case for more playing time. He blew it. He’ll never be more than a backup.

He’s not been helped by some loose play by his defensemen. Owen Murray remains a liability.

And then there are the dumb penalties. Some of this is on Carvel. No excuse for blowing a 2 goal lead against a mid level ECAC team.

They only have 4 games in January, it’s going to be a long month. They are going to need a couple of weekend sweeps and take a couple of the 5 games vs BC and Maine in February if they want an invitation to the NCAA’s.
 
Last edited:
It was a decent day at the World Juniors for our two UMass representatives. Dans Locmelis scored 2 nifty goals in the Latvia loss to the US. And Hrabal stopped 30 of 32 shots in Czechia’s win over Canada.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top